Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s just what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Viewers familiar with her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and starred in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she has plenty to discuss, ranging from on identity, sex, or the merits of creating a teen combat group. And, after watching the new eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds further thoughts on the struggles of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, naming the show in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant presence on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, that program about an emerging celebrity navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The idea for I Love LA emerged—partly—from her own, originally fractious, transition to LA and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a time that saw her learn major truths, work-wise and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, the star began developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and posting hilarious (and decidedly) weird online content online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically drawn to motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will surely be feeling foolish today. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. Previously she uploaded a video named on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents managing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be easy to create a show about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of affluent millennial living that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she says. “I think that young people have been through a lot – I’m mostly thinking of people younger than me, like my little sister, who went to college during Covid, so she had to come home, or my other sister who was doing school online.”|“The younger generation has faced significant
